


paper snowflakes

by michaelsc0fields



Series: Captain Canary A-Z Challenge [4]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: F/M, P is for Prison, Prison Break AU, also AZ Challenge, i'm finally writing this it would seem, one shot/drabble collection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-07-26 01:24:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7554745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/michaelsc0fields/pseuds/michaelsc0fields
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Leonard Snart. Linked to several accusations of grand larceny, assault, intent to harm, accessory to murder, possession of arms…” Sara Lance flipped to the last page of the folder. “And you get caught for a small time robbery with intent to harm?” She looked up at the latest inmate and raised an eyebrow. “You walked into a bank and fired a gun. Nice one, genius.”</p><p>Prison Break AU written in oneshots and drabbles.</p><p>P is for Prison</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pilot

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nyxisis (IsseyRiot)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IsseyRiot/gifts).



> sooooooooo this is set within the verse i created for my prison break drabble (which is chapter one of we'll shoot across the sky!)
> 
> basically i wanted to do a prison break au but i'm not smart enough to convert michael's entire plan over to the dc universe. therefore, this is my result - writing scenes based on the general plot but not necessarily in any order, just as they are asked for or come to me. so feel to request something that specifically came from prison break (any season) or just something you think would be cool to see from this verse!
> 
> just a little bit of background - the starling earthquake did happen because that's how sara got her job since no male guards would take on the role and iron heights has two seperate wings, one for humans and one for metas.
> 
> this is for nyx because i promised i would write prison break/lot if she wrote again (after three years!!)

The office was small; just like he’d known it would be. If pressured, he could probably recite the dimensions of the room, even though he hadn’t considered it that important a detail to include in the art that adorned his body. The window was at the opposite side of the room to the door, with a thick cable draped from the outside sill to the wire rimmed wall that lined the entirety of the prison. It was almost amusing to Leonard that the first thing he saw in the prison was the very last step of his plan.

The door swung open behind him and the guard – Hunter, his name badge announced - who had been eyeing him straightened up at the sight of the head guard stalking into her office, ignoring the two of them entirely as she marched straight past with her eyes on the folder she had nestled in one arm. She perched on the edge of her desk and flicked through a couple more sheets before speaking.

“Leonard Snart. Linked to several accusations of grand larceny, assault, intent to harm, accessory to murder, possession of arms…” Sara Lance flipped to the last page of the folder. “And you get caught for a small time robbery with intent to harm?” She looked up at the latest inmate and raised an eyebrow. “You walked into a bank and fired a gun. Nice one, genius.”

Leonard offered a humourless smile. “Your times up when your times up… boss?” He shrugged. “Is there a different slang name a female guard?”

Sara snapped the file shut and fixed him with a hard glare. “I’m not a female guard. I’m the head guard at this prison and my gender is irrelevant.” She narrowed her eyes. “If you need me, and try not to need me, you can ask for Lance.”

Leonard knew everything there possibly was to know about this woman. But he couldn’t resist a little tease. “Lance? As in daughter of Quentin Lance, police captain?” 

Sara pursed her lips and turned towards her desk, slapping the file down harshly. “Also irrelevant-“

Leonard let out a low whistle. “I mean; I knew the good cap had a couple of daughters, but I thought the fact that one of them was a prison guard was a myth-“

“All right, Snart.” Sara whipped round. “Yes, my father is Captain Lance, but I am the head guard of Iron Heights which means I am also Captain Lance - and that makes me the only Captain Lance that you need to bother yourself with. The fact that I’m a woman is only important because it’s so damn impressive that I’m the only female guard in history to work at a men’s correctional facility. I turned this place around after the Star City Earthquake pretty much by myself because nobody else in the correctional system would touch this place or its meta-human supervillain wackos with a barge pole. We haven’t had a single breakout since nor has there been any wrongdoing among guards and inmates under my watch. I might be a woman, but I am damn good at my job. My dad might have caught you, but I’ll be the one keeping you in here. Understand?”

Leonard raised his eyebrows, taken aback. “Absolutely. Yes, boss.”

Sara gave him a brief nod. “Then let’s take you to your cell.” She crossed past him and opened her office door. “Hunter. Prepare the prisoner for Gen Pop.”

-

By this point, Leonard had decided that Captain Lance was okay in his book, which was perfect for his plan. Officer Hunter, on the other hand, was not okay. And neither was-

“Hey, roomie!” 

Leonard blanched. “Oh. Oh no. This is not going to work.” He turned back to the cell door to see Hunter stood stoically in the doorway and Sara draped over the bars, grinning. 

“Mr Snart, meet Mr Palmer, your roommate for the next, ohh, three years? That’s what you’ve got left, right, Ray?” She directed her attention to the other occupant of the room who offered a cheerful grin in response.

“Yes, ma’am!” He gave a mock salute and Leonard died a little inside. 

Ray Palmer was tall but that wasn’t the reason he looked out of place in the tiny cell he would now be sharing with Leonard. No, the boy scout smile nestled among the earnest features of his face along with the Clark Kent quiff of dark hair was what made him look like a fish out of water. Ray looked like he should be shaking hands with the mayor on the steps of City Hall, not holed up doing a three-year sentence for god knows what in the human wing of Iron Heights.

“Play nice, boys.” Sara smirked. She pulled her baton out from her belt and banged it against the top of the bars, turning to address the entire cavernous room. “All right, Gen Pop – lights out in ten! It’s time for bed, kiddies.”

“You coming with, Lancey?” A jeer echoed from a couple of flights above Leonard’s cell. He watched as Sara didn’t even flinch, her face set in a cool smile.

“In your dreams, Mr Blood.” She called back. “And since you’re dreaming of things you can’t have, why not dream of dessert? Because you’re not getting any for the next two weeks.”

The bars slid shut across the cells with a resounding clank, drowning out the catcalls in Blood’s direction as well as the man himself’s protest.

“Good night, gentleman.” Sara shouted, strapping her baton back to her waist. She turned to Leonard and Ray’s cell. “Have a good first night, Mr Snart. This is how it’s going to go for a long time.” She winked, then sauntered out with Hunter at her heels.

Leonard turned slowly, looking at his new workspace. Small, cramped, yes, but he knew all that to begin with. What he hadn’t known was his own personal sunshine would be his cellmate. He’d been hoping for someone quiet who would either go along with the plan or ignore it and be hushed with money later. Leonard had a feeling Ray was too much of a goody-goody to agree or allow it to happen under his nose.

“So… what are you in here for? Illegal amounts of hair gel?” Leonard dropped his pyjamas onto the bottom bunk and leant casually against it.

“What- oh.” Ray ran a hand through his quiff self-consciously. Amazingly, it sprung back to where it had initially been styled. “Nah. I ran a massive tech company – Palmer Industries? – and turns out the nuclear weapons we had been working on weren’t technically legal. Oopsie.”

“Oopsie.” Leonard echoed dryly. “So you were the CEO or…?”

Hmm, CEO meant money which would be invaluable if he could turn Ray to his cause.

“Well, yeah, but that was kind of secondary. I also worked in the labs, hands on, as an engineer and physicist.” Ray looked sheepish about boasting, but Leonard’s heart rose.

Money was good, but an engineer with money? He needed an engineer anyway for his plan – what wonderful luck he happened to land in a cell with one.

“What about you?” Ray broke through Leonard’s plotting.

“Aggravated robbery and some… outstanding charges.” Leonard shrugged it off casually.

Ray nodded sympathetically. “Ouch. How long you got buddy?”

Leonard made a snap decision. “Oh, a good few weeks.”

“Huh?”

“Raymond, I don’t really like you. But I need an engineer. By sticking me in here with you, the lovely Cap has simply made my job a little easier – now I don’t have to go and find one.” Leonard rubbed his hands together. “You see, my partner is currently on death row and, well, call me sentimental, but I sort of owe him one. So in four weeks, I’m going to be breaking out of here with him – and potentially you – in tow.”


	2. Riots, Drills and The Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> who would have thought a fic where the lead ship is captain canary would feature so many scenes of ray and leonard in bed?
> 
> this chapter is for agentmarymargaretskitz cause she requested it and also she's cute

“Bed check!”

Ray drummed the mirror on the edge of the cistern hurriedly, before tucking it back under the mattress and vaulting onto his bunk. Buried under the sheets, he held his breath as he heard Sara get closer. 

Leonard was somewhere within the walls at this very second; Ray couldn’t be sure that he even heard his warning taps. What he was completely sure of was that if Leonard was reported missing and the hole in their cell wall discovered, he would be looking at a massive sentence and his chance to win Kendra back from that slimy Carter would be gone.

“Palmer?” Sara’s voice broke through his vividly imagined scenario where he burst into the church on a white horseback and swept Kendra away from her wedding. “Show some skin.”

Forcing a cheery smile, Ray poked his head out from under the duvet. “Reporting for duty, cap’n!” He gave a mock salute.

Sara’s mouth lifted into the smirk she often reserved for Ray – exasperatedly fond. She tapped her baton on the cell’s bars. “Snart. Show some skin.”

Silence.

“Snart?” Sara repeated, voice a little tenser and less jovial than previously.

Ray felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. He dropped back against his thin pillow and squeezed his eyes shut, reminiscing about everything he was about to lose – goodbye Kendra, goodbye company, goodbye welding torch-

“Snart, show some skin.” Sara was deadly serious now, rustling in her belt to find her flashlight.

Ray kept down a whimper – goodbye blueprint paper, goodbye lucky wrench-

“Last chance, Snart. Show some skin.”

The flashlight flicked on into a dazzling beam and Leonard groaned, rolling over to shield his half shut eyes. He could make out Sara’s figure behind the glow of her torch and a lazy smirk slid into place.

“If you wanted me naked, you could’ve just asked, boss.” He drawled.

“Dream on, Snart.” The light snapped off as suddenly as it had come on, plunging them into darkness. “Sweet dreams, boys.” She called over her shoulder as she moved onto the next cell.

Leonard settled back against his pillow as Ray swung himself over the bunk so his top half was hanging over the lower bunk, eyes comically bulging in a mixture of adrenaline and shock.

“Wha- how-?” He gestured aimlessly at the cistern, the motion mostly useless in the near blackness of the cell. “How did you get back through so quickly?”

Leonard’s bored expression was hidden by the lack of light. “I ran.” He deadpanned. “Anyway, Raymond, we have a problem. There’s a wall. We need to get through this wall and fast – we’re behind schedule.”

“You know, I think I’d feel better if I knew what said schedule actually w-“

“Shut it, Palmer.” Leonard snapped, tucking his arms behind his head as he stared at the bottom of the top bunk, willing it to give him some answers. “We need to be through this wall by tonight, but we’re running out of time…”

There was silence for a few moments until Ray piped up.

“If there’s any structural weak points, I might be able to figure out the best places to drill through. We’d need a lot of noise to mask it though.” He suggested.

Leonard pondered, humming in agreement under his breath. “And a lot of time to get it done in.”

Ray pulled himself back into his bunk. “We need a distraction.”

The cogs whirred in Leonard’s head as he ran through the beginnings of a plan in his head. “Yes, we do.”

-

Climbing back into the wall to shut down the fans and turn up the heat in order to create a distraction had seemed like a good idea at the time. It had indeed caused a huge distraction, one loud and large enough to cover the sound of Ray drilling through the wall a few yards away. Unfortunately, it was also a little-

Leonard ducked as a roll of toilet paper flew over his head.

-chaotic.

Leonard surveyed the riot from his perch on the railings outside his cell. It was a good job he’d delegated knocking through the wall to Palmer; the boy scout wouldn’t have lasted ten seconds among the crowds here. He’d probably have tried to help the guards and got shanked for his troubles. That said, a grudging respect had formed in Leonard towards his genius cell mate – he remembered how cool and in control the man had been when faced with the task he was currently working on.

It had taken him a few minutes, but he’d figured out the ideal places to drill in order to bring the wall down safely based on Leonard’s knowledge of the layout of the prison. 

“You know, if your math is wrong, you’ll hit a gas pipe and we’ll all go up in flames.” Leonard had drawled, studying his nails as Palmer had set his makeshift drill to the wall.

The other man’s eyes had flared open slightly, but he’d set his jaw and begun chiselling away. “I’m good at math.”

Yes, staying cool under pressure was a trait Leonard valued in his men – someone had to make up for Mick’s lack – and he appreciated Palmer a little bit more in that instance.

An alarm began wailing through the gen pop, causing a large group of the fighting crowd to cheer. Leonard frowned, spotting Sebastian Blood and Slade Wilson hanging over the monitors of the guard’s station, jeering as they narrated the chaos they could see happening over the CCTV displayed before them. He slid off the railing, landing on the stairs and heading down them, trying not to catch any of the rioter’s attention as he got closer to hear what they were saying.

“Lawton just opened the metahuman wing – crazy bastard!” The insult sounded more like praise as Blood shouted it, met by another round of celebration from the crowd.

“Hey, hey, hey – Hunter is evacuating the guards” – a boo from the crowd which Wilson hushed, trying to keep up with the action on the screens – “except… Oh ho ho, Little Miss Lance is in her office and she isn’t going anywhere! Her office is in the metahuman wing – stupid bitch!”

Leonard’s blood ran cold. A few inmates getting hurt, a couple of coward guards getting scraped up was a sacrifice he was willing to make in order to get a distraction going for Ray. Sara was a good person and she was good at her job – patient and kind, even when she was firm with the inmates. She didn’t take their shit. She didn’t deserve to get put down by the wayward metahumans she took such pride in being responsible for – bastards didn’t know how good they had it with her in charge.

-

The radio strapped to Sara’s shoulder buzzed into life as Hunter’s voice filled the air.

“Captain Lance-“

“What is it Hunter?”

“Sector 2- I- they-“

“Spit it out!”

“Sara. You’ve got to get out of there.” Rip took a steadying breath. “The metahuman wing is loose.”

Sara pursed her lips. “I’ve got it, Hunter.” 

“But, Sara-“ 

“No one else is equipped to handle the metahumans except the sector 2 guards and me. And since the sector 2 guards have clearly been overpowered, that leaves me.” She paused. “See if you can get word out to any of the Central or Star City vigilantes to see if they can help.”

She switched her radio off and walked over to her cupboard, tapping in the correct combination to the lock keeping it sealed. Opening the double doors, she was greeted with a familiar sight – her vigilante uniform, hung up and waiting like an old friend. She bypassed it, though, for the weapons hung up beside it.

The light weight of her bo staff in her hand strengthened her resolve as the handle of her door rattled. A fist pounded against the glass pane a couple of times before it finally smashed through, sending shards flying across the room. 

Sara kicked the cupboard closed and turned.

She was ready.

-

Leonard cursed as he crawled through the vents. Knowing the building layout inside and out had its perks, such as knowing exactly how to get to Sara’s office, but shimmying through metal caverns during a heatwave was not ideal for someone who preferred the cold. 

He took a left, hearing the commotion of the metahumans below him. The men with powers were loud and crazy, shouts and cries in all languages echoing around the vents as Leonard crawled past. The entire building shuddered under the effects of one of the metahumans – Leonard froze where he was, waiting for the shaking to pass.

A few moments later, he was directly above Sara’s office, squeezing through to a grate in her ceiling. He could hear a struggle happening and hurried to get the grate lifted, sliding into the hole it left feet first and landing with his fists raised, ready to defend Sara from-

Sara.

She stood, a long stick in her hand and around four men crumpled at her feet, staring at him with a bemused expression. 

“Snart?” She questioned, like she was sure she had imagined the thief dropping from her ceiling. 

“I can expla- look out!”

Sara whirled around at his shout. Mark Mardon stood in the doorway of her office, hands outstretched with a tiny tornado brewing over each palm.

Sara rolled her neck, pushed back her shoulder and ran at him before Leonard even had chance to think of what to do next. He watched as Sara, in a flurry of limbs and staff, caught Mardon off guard with a well-aimed kick to the knee, followed by slicing his stomach with her stick, clearly knocking the wind out of him. The tornados dissolved into thin air as he was obviously caught by surprise, but he still lashed out to catch her ankle as he collapsed to his knees, bringing her down with him. She landed gracefully, as though it was all part of the plan, and swiped at his wrist with the staff making him howl with pain and lunge at her, knocking her onto her back. Mardon sat at her waist and slammed his fist into her cheekbone.

Leonard took the opportunity to stop admiring Sara’s fighting tactics and actually help – as she struggled away from Mardon, he swung forward with an uppercut that caught the other man right under the jaw, sending his head snapping back as he slumped away unconscious. 

Leonard held a hand to Sara, who took it and pulled herself up, breathing heavily. She raised a hand to touch the tender spot on her cheek where Mardon hit her, but to her surprise – and his – Leonard beat her to it. His thumb ran over the red mark that would develop into a bruise with a surprising tenderness, any initial attempts to make the gesture seem clinical gone as his gaze met hers, still burning from the fire of the fight.

They stared at each other until Sara’s radio crackled to life.

“Sara! Sara, come in, Sara!”

She broke eye contact with Leonard to reach for it. “What is it, Hunter?”

“The Green Arrow responded. He’s sending in ARGUS.”

Sara let out a relieved breath, still ignoring Leonard. “Good. We’ll let them take care of it, then bring the guards back in to help clear up the mess, understood?”

“Yes, ma’am.” 

Sara clicked the radio off and turned back to Leonard. The heat of the moment had gone and he felt at odds stood in her office when she could very well add years to his sentence at any moment for being there. 

“Well, Snart. Seems you better hurry on back to your cell.” She smirked and looked up at the hole in her ceiling tiles. “Need a boost?”

-

Ray settled back in his bunk, dusty but satisfied with the day’s job. The wall was rubble, no fires had been started and the prisoners were all safely back in their beds, having been shepherded in between the efforts of Sara and the ARGUS soldiers.

“I heard you went to rescue Sara.” He said, conversationally. “Although, knowing her, she probably didn’t need rescuing…”

Leonard let out a single, flat hum. “What of it?” He asked in an irritated tone.

“Nothing, nothing…” Ray shrugged even though Leonard couldn’t see it between the mattress separating them. “Just… seems like you wanted to play hero today.”

“I was going to tell you you’d done good work today, Raymond.” Leonard snarled. “But now I’m not. Goodnight.”

Ray pressed his lips together to hold back a snort. “Sounds like someone is a bit testy about their heroics…” When he was met with silence, he let out the laugh he’d been holding and rolled over to get comfy. “Night, Leonard.”

They lay in silence as the lights shut down in gen pop.

“Palmer?”

“Yes?”

“Good work today.”


End file.
